Highway maintainer conveyer



Get. 13, 1942. w, BAYEs 2,298,671 I HIGHWAY MAINTAINER CONVEYER Filed Dec. 28, 1940 s Sheets- Shut 1 ATTORNEYS Get. 13, 1942 Ekw. BAYES 2,298,671

. HIGHWAY MAINTAINER CONVEYER Filed Dec. 28, 1,940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l' y' l ATTORNEYS O 13, 1 942. E. Ems. 2,298,671

HIGHWAY MAINTAINER CONVEYER Fi led Dec. '28, 1940 3 Sheets-She a 3 E5552 zy im m away zm ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HIGHWAY MAINTAINER CONVEYER Elijah W. Bayes, Parsons, Kans.

Application December 28, 1940, Serial No. 372,137

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to highway maintainer elevators.

An object of the invention is to provide a maintainer elevator which will greatly facilitate the loading of material removed during highway maintenance and like operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a highway maintainer elevator which will enable truck loading while the truck moves in a forward manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an elevator of the aforesaid character which is eflicient and reliable in operation as well as compact and durable in construction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description progresses.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the elevator shown operatively associated with a highway maintainer and a receiving truck,

Figure 2 is a side elevational vieW of the elevator apparatus,

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the same,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevational view showing parts in detail,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary transverse section through the cross conveyer of the apparatus,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken on line 66 of Figure 1,

Figure 7 is an enlarged transverse section taken on line 1-1 of Figure l, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section showing the connection between the maintainer, scraper and the elevator apparatus.

Referring to the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, It designates a rectangular-shaped frame which constitutes the main frame section of the elevator. Extending longitudinally from the frame section If] are a pair of extension bars ll converging as the for ward ends meet and are fastened to the front end portions of a pair of elongated boards or plates l2 embodying the sides of the elevator. The members l2 are arranged to normally assume Vertical parallel planes extending at a vertical inclination to the frame section. At the rear ends of the guide members I2 is mounted a transversely arranged roller supporting shaft l3 having the roller or drum thereof disposed between the guides and having an endless conveyerbelt l4 trained thereover. This shaft [3 is journalled in a bearing l5 supported by an arcuate arm 5 attached to a bearing ll formed integral with an adjacent bearing l8. The rear ends of the guides l2 are supported in elevated arrangement through the medium of upwardly directed bracing bars I9 fastened to the main frame I!) while the intermediate portions of these guides are likewise braced by brace bars 2i].

As shown to advantage at Figure 5, the main support bearing 18 is fastened to an upstanding frame bar 2| while another bearing 22 is secured therebelow.

The bottom of the belt is trained over a roller 23 while the top reach of the belt I4 is supported at spaced intervals on sets of rollers 24 mounted on a transversely extending shaft so as to pro- Vide a central horizontal roller and side 1nclined rollers designed so that the belt assumes a trough-shaped cross sectional contour as illustrated at Figure 7. Immediately in front of the .roller 22 is mounted a transversely curved pickup blade 25 arranged to feed the material onto the lower end of the conveyer.

enable the pusher wheel to swing upwardly to allow the passage of relatively large particles of matter such as stones and the like. At an end extension of the shaft 26 is provided an angular bracket 33 having bearing sleeves 34 at each end so as to associate with the shaft 26 a right angularly extending drive shaft 35, these shafts making a driving connection through a pair of meshing bevel gears 36. The rear of the shaft 35 connects, through the medium of a universal knuckle joint 31, with a bevel gear 38 mounted to mesh with a complementary drive gear 39. This latter gear also meshes with a bevel gear 40 fixed on a shaft 4l journalled on the frame at an upward inclination and driving, at its upper extremity, a gear composed of the united bevel sections 42 and 43. This latter gear engages a bevel gear 44 fastened on the transverse shaft [3 for rotating the upper roller of the elevating conveyer belt.

The bevel drive gear 39 is driven through the medium of a transversely extending drive shaft 45 designed to make connection with the hub of a Wheel 46 constituting one of the Wheels of a highway maintainer, scraper or the like 41. The drive shaft 45 preferably connects with the wheel 46 and the drive gear 39 through the medium of a pair of knuckle joints 48 providing suitable flexibility in the transverse drive connection.

As shown to advantage at Figures 1 and 2 the maintainer wheels 46 may advantageously be somewhat larger than the wheels 49 which support the elevator apparatus so that the connection shaft 45 may be conveniently extended through the framework of the elevator.

A shaft 55 having one end journalled in the bearing 18 and the opposite end journalled in a complementary bearing fastened on the top of a triangular-shaped frame section 52, arranged vertically at the rear of the elevator, extends through spaced side guides 53 of a transverse oonveyer. Adjacent the ends of the side guides 53 are provided rotary conveyer rollers 54.

At one end of the shaft Ell is fastened a bevel gear 55 in mesh with the gear section 42 while on the opposite end of the shaft is fixed a spur gear 55 in driving engagement with a complementary spur gear 5'! supported on a shaft 58 and locked with a sprocket wheel 59. An endless chain 58 is trained over the sprocket 59 and over a complementary sprocket 5| fastened on the lateral extension of one of the conveyer rollers 54. An endless conveyer belt 62 is trained over the end rollers 54 and is positioned so as to receive the material discharged from the upper end of the conveyer [4.

A segment 63 secured to each side guide 53 concentric with the shaft 56 is disposed so that its peripheral teeth E l engage a spur gear 65 at each end of a shaft 6t journalled in the bearing 22 on the support 2| and a bearing 6! on the rear frame section. A worm wheel 68 fixed on the shaft 65 engages a worm gear 69 fastened on a stub shaft journalled in a bearing iil and rotatable by a hand crank ll.

In order to maintain the same in proper relation the front of the elevator unit is connected to the discharge end of the blade of the maintainer, indicated at '12, in the present example by a flexible joint embodying a ball section 73 having a bracket M bolted to one of the side guides E2 of the conveyer and a socket section it fastened through the medium of a webbed bracket Hi to the scraper blade. Thus, the material leaving the blade 12 discharges directly in front of the conveyer blade and is fed onto the conveyer by the driven feed wheel.

During operation, as for instance when employing the maintainer or scraper for ditch cleaning, shoulder scraping or road resurfacing, the material removed by the scraper unit is efliciently elevated by the elevating conveyer belt i l to a raised discharge station from whence it is delivered onto the transverse or cross conveyer E2, The crank-actuated mechanism enables selective oscillation or tilting of the cross loading conveyer in accordance with the nature of the particular operation and relative position of the trucks. The elevator unit, which is attached to the scraper by a chain l'l' or other suitable connection, is drawn thereby while the truck shown partially at 18, moves forwardly at the side of the loader. Thus, the material removed by the scraper blade is initially elevated on the conveyer M and discharged therefrom onto the cross conveyer 62 which carries it to a laterally projected position from whence it is dumped into the truck. It will be evident that this construction provides an efiicient elevator means which may be readily associated with conventional scraper machines and will enable safe and continuous loading of trucks or like removal vehicles.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In highway maintainer apparatus, a motor driven wheeled road scraper, the said scraper having a blade at the front thereof, a wheeled frame disposed parallel with the said scraper, a conveyer mounted longitudinally on the said wheeled frame adapted to carry material from the front to an elevated position at the rear of the frame, a transversely mounted conveyer adapted to receive material from the rear end of the elevating conveyer and dump the same from a position at one side of the elevating conveyer, a ball and socket joint connecting the front of the elevato frame with one end of the scraper blade, and gearing driven through a shaft connected with a wheel of the scraper for operating the said conveyers.

2. In highway maintainer apparatus, a wheeled road scraper, a blade mounted at the front of the scraper and projecting laterally thereof, a wheeled frame disposed parallel with the said scraper, a conveyer mounted longitudinally on the said wheeled frame disposed to carry material from a low position at the front thereof to an elevated position at the rear of the frame, a transversely mounted conveyer disposed to receive material from the rear end of the elevating conveyer for dumping the same from a position at one side of the elevating conveyer, a transverse shaft journaled on the conveyer frame and having a drive gear at one end thereof, a pair of transmission shafts having gears meshing with the said drive gear for operating the longitudinal and transverse conveyers, means connecting one end of the said transverse drive shaft with a carrier wheel of the scraper for driving the said shaft upon rotation of the carrier wheel, and means flexibly connecting the forward end of the conveyer frame with one end of the scraper blade.

3. In highway maintainer apparatus, a wheel carried scraper frame, a blade mounted transversely on the said scraper frame, a conveyer frame mounted on wheels and adapted to be disposed parallel with the scraper frame, a conveyer mounted longitudinally on the conveyer frame in inclined position and operative to carry material from the lower front portion to an elevated discharge position at the rear of the frame, a second endless conveyer mounted at the rear end of the longitudinal conveyer and disposed to receive material from the latter for carrying the same to a laterally disposed loading position, the said loading conveyer being tiltably supported on the frame, means for tilting the said loading conveyer, mechanism connected with and driven by a wheel of the scraper frame for driving the said longitudinal and loading conveyers, and a joint flexibly connecting the forward end of the conveyer frame with an end of the scraper blade.

ELIJAH W. BAYES. 

